China, US likely to progress on BIT talks: official

China and the United States are likely to make progress on Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) talks during their annual high-profile dialogue, a Chinese vice finance minister said on Monday.

"Both sides will reach new agreements on BIT talks. In other words, the two countries will launch the negative list-based negotiations at an early date," Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said at a press briefing on Monday.

The briefing came two days ahead of the sixth round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), which will take place in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday.

At last year's S&ED, the two countries made strides in BIT talks that would deepen an economic relationship in which two-way trade already exceeds 520 billion U.S. dollars.

China wants the United States to narrow the national security reviews on Chinese investment, while the U.S. side would like to see China keep its "negative list," which details sectors barring U.S. investment, as short as possible.

"Rounds of negotiations have been held over the past year and produced remarkable results," Zhu said.

"China believes that BIT negotiations on the basis of pre-establishment national treatment (PENT) with a negative list approach are in accord with the direction of China's economic restructuring," Zhu said.

Conclusion of the BIT talks by the two countries would be historic, Zhu said, stressing it would significantly impact the bilateral economic relationship and the world economy.